Secrets Behinds Dark Eyes
by BloodstainedMelody
Summary: Leo the new kid, an outcast with a troubled past and Elliot a popular boy with with lots of friends and admirers, were their paths destined to cross? *Highschool AU, Thank you Kitty for helping me write this! *


I stood staring up at a plaque engraved with the words "_**Welcome to Pandora Secondary School**_". The plaque was bolted to a brick archway in front of the school. Underneath a cement pathway snaked across the green grass and came to a stop in front of the main entrance of the brick building. There was nobody else outside, classes had already started. I scowled, another town, another school, I probably wouldn't stay long enough to make friends, not that I wanted any.

Sighing I reluctantly made my way towards the double doors adjusting my glasses and brushing my bangs out of my eyes. Inside the building was brightly lit, my worn sneakers squeaked as I walked down the tiled halls. I stopped at the front office, a woman with her blonde hair in a bun smiled at me.

"Are you signing in late?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, I'm new here"

"Oh, you must be Leo then right?" She said.

I nodded.

"One minute I have your schedule here somewhere.." She shuffled through a pile of papers "Ah! Here it is." She handed me a sheet with my new classes. "I hope you enjoy it here at Pandora High" Another smile was flashed.

I nodded again. "Thanks"

I was glad to finally be out of the office, that woman was much too cheery. I looked down at the paper in my hands, it had a list of my classes along with my locker number and lock combination. My first class was math with Mr. Baskerville, my locker was on the other side of the school, so I decided to go straight to class.

The lesson had already started, all eyes locked on me as I walked in. The teacher, a tall man with dark hair and violet eyes regarded me with a calm but slightly annoyed expression.

"Sorry" I mumbled standing awkwardly in front of the class.

"You're the new student?" He asked.

I nodded.

"I'll excuse you for being tardy this once, don't let it happen again" He cleared his throat "Anyways what is your name?"

"Leo"

"Well Leo, here is your textbook. Find a seat anywhere and I'll continue with the lesson"

I took the textbook and ducked my head as I made my way to the back of the classroom, finding a seat close to a window. Time passed slowly as Mr. Baskerville taught trigonometry. I didn't mind, I found trig fairly easy. I finished the work before everyone else, I pulled a book out of my backpack and read for the rest of the class. The bell rang and I began to shove my text book back into my backpack. I stopped when I felt a tap on my shoulder, looking up I saw a boy with bright green eyes and blonde hair, he looked too young to be in this class.

"What?" I asked warily.

"You're the new kid right?" He asked.

Well duh, Mr. Baskerville pretty much announced that to the whole class, why would he ask such a stupid question? I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"Yeah, so?" I replied.

He laughed and held out a hand. "I'm Oz, did you want to sit with my friends and I at lunch?"

I ignored his hand and shoved the textbook into my backpack.

"Thanks but no thanks" I said as I slung my backpack over my shoulder.

Oz looked shocked. "Huh? Why?"

I shrugged. "I don't see the point of making friends, I'm probably going to be moving soon anyways "

"What? How come?" Oz asked confused.

Because all I ever do is screw up. No matter where I go or how many times I start over there's always something I do wrong. Every new school had felt so promising, but there were always people who didn't like me, for what reason I don't know. There were always days I'd come home with black eyes and broken stuff. At first I'd just sit there and take it, hoping if I sat quiet and took a beating they would start liking me, maybe I'd have some friends. After awhile, I started to get angry, I was 10 years old when I got into my first fight. I was expelled immediately. My grandmother thought it was just a thing young boys did, but I began to get into fights more often. The last straw came when I put a kid in the hospital, we had to move towns. I had been to counselling but I feel like I'm just wasting their time, it wasn't any help either. I still found it hard to control my temper. Pandora is the tenth school I've been to, I'm just hoping to finish my education before I run out of high schools.

"Because thats just how I am" I snapped "I can't stay in one place without messing everything up"

I pushed past the boy before he had a chance to say anything. I regretted lashing out at Oz like that, he didn't mean any harm, he was trying to be friendly, I paused. Oz was the first person to welcome me, and without a punch to the face. He even invited me to eat with him at lunch. My cheeks burned with embarrassment. I make a mental note to apologize to him later.

I'm almost late for my next class. I have english with Mrs. Rainsworth. She smiles warmly when I introduce myself. I'm handed another textbook and again I find a desk at the back of the room. Mrs. Rainsworth explains the curriculum and talks about a book report, it's going to be a group project. I stop listening and pull out a book, a series I found a few weeks ago called Holy Knight.

"Leo? did you hear me?" Mrs. Rainsworth calls.

"Huh?" I shut the book "What?"

"You're partnered with Elliot for the project" She says motioning to a boy with blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He looks wealthy too, he's wearing brand name everything. I look down at my own clothes, mostly thrift shop finds and second hand stuff. My faded jeans have rips in the knees and my grey pullover is too big.

The boy, Elliot, is looking at me strangely. I frown. He comes to my desk, pulling up a chair he sits beside me.

"So what do you want to do the book report on?" I mutter, I hate group projects.

He's staring at the book on my lap.

"You read Holy Knight?" He asked.

I regard him suspiciously. Am I going to get teased for reading it?

"No" I lie trying to quickly shove the book into my backpack.

"Don't lie" Elliot snaps as he makes a grab for the book. He manages to snatch it from my hands.

"Hey!" I protest.

"You do!" He says as he looks at the cover, to my surprise he's smiling. "This has got to be the best series ever written! Do you mind if we do the project on it?"

"Huh? Uhm, no it's fine."

Class passes by fast, Elliot does most of the talking, he's full of ideas. I just sit there and nod, to be honest I find him irritating, he won't shut up about how much he despises Edgar, I don't see why he hates him so much, I think self-sacrifice is kind of noble. I'm almost the first one out the door when the bell rings but Elliot calls me back.

"What?" I snap.

"We're going to have to work on this project outside of school, I was wondering who's place you wanted to work at?"

I shrugged. "We can work at my house, I live with just my grandma, so it's pretty quiet."

"Okay, can we work on it tomorrow at lunch too?"

"Uh, sure"

Elliot smiled. "Okay, meet me in the library then"

I nod then quickly slip out of the class. Library huh? I wonder how big it is. It's easy to find, the library is situated just to the right of the main hallway. I pass the cafeteria on my way, in the window I see Oz from my math class sitting with a group of other kids, a boy with a mop of curly raven colored sits on the left Oz, a girl with long brown hair and violet eyes is at his right, eating what looks like a drumstick. Elliot is there too, a girl with short curly hair sits beside him, she's trying to flirt and gain his attention but Elliot doesn't seem interested. There are a few other kids there too, a girl with short striking white hair with a backpack shaped as a bear, a tall girl with long wavy brown hair, a girl with the same blonde hair and green eyes ad Oz and a boy with blonde hair and two different colored eyes, he hovers close to the raven haired boy. They're all laughing and talking among each other, for a moment I feel a pang of loneliness, I could be there too, laughing and chatting with them. I shake my head, I couldn't be accepted, who would want to be my friend anyways? I already snapped at Oz, and he was just trying to be nice. I scowl and walk towards the library. I don't need any friends.

The library is a huge room, the shelves are filled with books. I spot a comfy looking couch in the middle of the room but there's a girl sitting in it, I walk past and make my way through the bookshelves and settle into a dusty forgotten corner. It's peaceful and quiet, a huge relief from the noise of the crowded hallways. I pull my book out, finally, I can read in peace. I finish the book before lunch ends, so I put it back into my bag and wonder if the library has the second volume. I sneak a peek at the librarian, she's a middle aged lady with brown hair, but she looks nice enough. I sling my backpack over my shoulder and quietly make my way towards her.

"Hey uhm, I was just wondering if you have anymore of these books here" I say awkwardly, holding out my copy of Holy Knight.

The librarian peers over her glasses and looks at the book.

"Ah, Holy Knight, that seems to be a popular read among students" She says " I believe they are on that shelf over there" She points to a shelf.

"Another thing, I'm kinda new here so I don't have a library card.." I mumbled.

"Oh we'll get you one right now" She said smiling "Whats your name dear?"

"Leo"

"Oh what a lovely name, I'm Mrs. Kate the librarian" She registers my name on the computer then bends down and pulls a plastic card out of a drawer "Here" she says handing me a card and a pen "Sign your name there and you're all done."

I sign my name and thank her. Then walk to the shelf she pointed at, they have every single copy, except for the one I need. I sigh, whatever, I'll just wait for it to be returned. I look at the clock and see lunch is almost over, I should probably go to class so I'm not late again. I pull my schedule out of my pocket and unfold it. My next class is science with a teacher named Mr. Break. I begin to start folding me schedule back up again when I feel another body bump into me, it's forceful enough to knock the crumpled piece of paper from my hands.

"Watch it!" I snap before I even know who I'm talking to.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" I recognize the voice, it's Elliot. He bends down and retrieves my schedule from the floor. "I wasn't looking where I was going, I was just coming over here to return a book."

As he hands my schedule back our hands touch, i'ts only for a second, but I can't help but notice how warm and solid his hands feel. My eyes flicker over to the book in his other hand. It's the missing volume.

"I need that" I say staring at the book.

"Huh? Oh sorry" He hands me the book too.

"Thanks" I say as I walk past him.

Mrs. Kate hands the book back to me after she's done checking it out. "Have a great day Leo" she says.

I'm the first one inside the class room. The teacher is at his desk looking through papers. He sits on his chair with his feet propped on his desk. His white hair has a somewhat purplish sheen, it falls covering one eye. His other eye is blood red and stares at me as I walk in.

"Ohh you must be the new student" he says with a wide grin on his face. The pink lollipop in his mouth clacks against his teeth as he talks.

"Yeah, I'm Leo" I say tiredly, I'm so done with these introductions.

"Hmm you don't seem very enthusiastic" He muses as he digs in a drawer full of candy wrappers.

I shrug, why lie?

Mr. Break pulls a textbook out of the drawer and hands it too me.

"Well I really don't care if you like this class or not, but you better get your homework done or else you might fail~" He chirps.

I take my textbook and find a seat at the very back of the class, as far away from that creep as I can. The bell rings and students start to file in, I ignore them and flip through my textbook, I keep finding candy wrappers stuck between the pages. I scowl and brush them onto the floor, kicking them away hoping nobody notices the brightly colored pieces of plastic. Class starts out like all of the others, the teacher first talks about the course, handouts are given with the course outline and then assigns us to take notes on a few pages of the textbook. I only finish about half the notes before getting bored. I look around and recognize two students, Oz's friends, one has raven colored hair and the other is the one with strange eyes, I shouldn't be talking, my eyes are a pretty strange color too, I touch my glasses self consciously. I look at the clock, class will be over in ten minutes. I pull my schedule out, my last class is P.E, I groan. Well at least it's the last class. The bell rings and I'm the first one out of the class.

Out of all my classes I hate P.E the most, I didn't bring gym strip so I sit outside the change room. The teacher is a stocky guy named Mr. Grunner, but everyone just calls him Grunner. We have a run first thing, I'm pretty fast, since I started getting picked on I've been trying to keep fit. But still I can't help feeling alone, everyone else in the class has at least one person to talk too, I keep my head down and jog. Mr. Grunner excuses me for not having any gym strip but tells me I have to have some for tomorrow. I can't stop the smile that forms on my lips as the bell rings, signaling that school is over. I quickly stop at my locker and grab my text books. Mrs. Kate waves at me as I pass by the library on my way out, I can't help waving back, out of everyone in this school I think I like the Mrs. Kate best. She's nice but not fake.

The tiny apartment my grandma and I share is only a 15 minute walk from the school. The cool autumn breeze felt nice against my skin, I was still hot from the run. I open the apartment door and see my grandma sleeping on the couch, she must have fallen asleep while watching TV. Quietly I take my shoes off and put my backpack down. I go into the kitchen and grab a granola bar before picking my backpack up walking down the hall into my room.

"Leo?" I hear a soft voice call "Leo is that you?"

"Yes, grandma I'm home" I call back. I drop my backpack onto the floor and walk back to the living room.

"How was your first day at school dear?" She asks as she sits up.

I shrug "It was alright, nothing bad happened"

She smiles. "I'm glad to hear that dear"

She looks tired.

"Grandma would you like a coffee or something? I went shopping the other day and grabbed some" I offer.

She laughs and shakes her head. "No dear it's quite alright, you look tired, go have a rest"

I smile. "Thanks" I say as I bend down and give her a quick peck on the forehead. "Wake me up in a bit so I can help with supper" I then walk back into my room and flop onto my bed. Soon I drift off to sleep.

~ooo~

Leo's grandmother didn't wake him up, she let him sleep as she made his favorite food for dinner. She smiled she cooked, deep inside she was proud of her grandson, she had a feeling this school was going to be different, a new beginning. She hoped, oh she hoped he would finally be happy.


End file.
